Wright Earns NCAA Runner-Up Finish in Menís Discus

Eugene, Ore. – The Nebraska track and field team produced another memorable day at the 2013 NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Friday. The Huskers saw Chad Wright earn a runner-up finish in the men’s discus and Mara Griva and Miles Ukaoma record sixth-place finishes in the women’s triple jump and men’s 400-meter hurdles, respectively.

Wright closed his junior campaign with a second-place finish in the men’s discus and notched his second All-America accolades of the 2013 NCAA Championships. He unleashed a monster personal-best throw of 209-1 (63.74) on his first attempt of the competition. His mark would vault him into the lead through the next four rounds, until Julian Wruck of UCLA posted a throw of 213-1 (64.94) on his final attempt. A stellar discus competition came to a close as Wright was unable to overcome the throw by Wruck, but came away with the second-place showing.

“I feel ok with how I did, I’m not too bummed with it,” Wright said. “I started my day by meeting Ashton Eaton, I was ecstatic about that. Then I had a PR on my first throw and kept throwing close to it. It was a pretty good day; I guess the better man won. Plus, I was going against some record holders; it’s hard to match up to that.”

Mara Griva closed a busy week of competition with a sixth-place finish in the women’s triple jump. Her final jump of the competition of 44-2 ½ (13.47) sealed her All-America honors. Closing her career at Nebraska, Griva has vaulted to one of the top female horizontal jumpers in NU history with 10 All-America honors over her three-year career.

Miles Ukaoma earned first-team All-America accolades with a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles. He posted a time of 49.57 to close out his junior season.

Anne Martin completed two days of heptathlon competition with a personal-best 5,414 points to come in 21st. She started the day with a leap of 18-5 ¼ (5.62) in the long jump, then tallied a throw of 130-3 (39.70) in the javelin. On the final event of two days, Martin closed out her first NCAA Championships with a personal-best time of 2:19.23 in the 800 meters.

In the team standings the men finished tied for 15th with 16 points, while the women finished tied for 32nd with eight points.

Friday marked the end of the NCAA Championships for the Huskers. Nebraska came away with seven top-10 finishes and six First-Team All-America accolades.